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PARTISAN BIAS IN STATE LOWER HOUSE ELECTIONS: A DISTRICT‐LEVEL SEARCH FOR GERRYMANDERING
Author(s) -
Wink Kenneth A.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
southeastern political review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1747-1346
pISSN - 0730-2177
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-1346.1995.tb00080.x
Subject(s) - gerrymandering , redistricting , legislature , political science , state (computer science) , house of representatives , single member district , lower house , public administration , political economy , demographic economics , general election , economics , law , politics , parliament , democracy , first past the post voting , mathematics , algorithm
In this study I explore the relationship between partisan votes and seat allocation in US state lower‐house elections. Specifically, I measure the partisan bias (asymmetry in the seats‐votes relationship) of 441 lower house state legislative elections in 46 states from 1968 to 1987. I then test to see if redistricting affects the level of partisan bias found in the election immediately subsequent to the redistricting. The results of the analysis are mixed. While party control of redistricting does have the hypothesized effect in eight of the nine election years, only in 1970, 1976, and 1982 do gerrymandering effects reach statistical significance. The results support recent studies that suggest that gerrymandering at the state level is not always successfully attempted but does occasionally occur.